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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Santa to the Sea Half Marathon (third time's a charm)

I always look forward to Santa to the Sea half marathon. It
has become a Christmas tradition for me and it doesn’t feel like the Christmas
season till I’ve run it (it takes place at the beginning of December). Daddio
and I ran it together in 2011 as my first half marathon and it’s always felt
like a special race. It was also my half marathon PR race until mid 2013.

Beautiful morning, but cold!

My boyfriend won a free entry for the race and decided, due
to a foot injury, to run the 5k. Daddio also wanted to run it, but due to
continual injuries, he also opted for the 5k option. I unfortunately didn’t get
to the see the 5k race since the half marathon was taking place at the same
time, but I got to hear all about it afterwards. Daddio placed first in his age
group! Way to go Dad! He won a nice Santa to the Sea sweatshirt. My boyfriend
set a new 5k PR! Not bad for two injured dudes!

Dad and Aldous getting ready for some 5k action

My race started out cold! Since Daddio needed to get to the
start of his race, I got dropped off at the start of mine an hour early. I
didn’t want to deal with a drop bag, so I left my sweats and jacket in the car
(stupid idea). It took just a few minutes of standing in shorts and a long
sleeve tech shirt for the cold to really set in. Apparently it was 36°, a
little cold for a southern Cali girl!

I’d been saying all year that I was aiming to PR at this
race, but I’d just set two new PR’s in my last two half marathons and I didn’t
think I had another one in me. My boyfriend told me that I was race faced the
week before and I probably was! I didn’t know how I managed to set my last PR
and wasn’t sure I’d be able to break it anytime soon.

I did a little warm up and then lined up at the start. I
stood in the sub two hour section feeling optimistic. The race started and as
usual I dodged walkers who had lined up in the front. Things were crowded and
the road was torn up due to work, so everyone was being careful of their steps.
Thankfully at this race, people get spread out pretty early on.

I felt rough right from the start. You know, some days
running feels amazing and other days it is work. This race was work every step
of the way. I had planned on doing intervals of 14 minutes of running and 1
minute of walking starting at mile 5, but I started it up at mile 3 instead. Like
last time, I didn’t carry water, so I had some quick stops at aid stations.

I enjoyed the spectators, the decorations, high fives and
the abundant amount of holiday costumes. I believe there were even more runners
in costume this year than in the past! I played Christmas music on my
headphones and stayed pretty focused. I was working hard, but not hurting.

Since I’ve run this race two other times, I know the course
pretty well. I know a lot of the twists and turns and when an aid station is
coming up. Strategically, this makes for a great PR race, since I can plan
where to stop and predict if I can skip an aid station. The route is basically
flat except for a couple overpasses, so I can plan my walk breaks to take place
on the hills or at the aid stations.

Around mile 6, I chatted with a guy that caught me walking
up an overpass. He joked about how we had been playing tag for the majority of
the race and seemed curious why I was intervaling. Some people are completely
against intervaling races, I personally have no problem with it. Eventually I
would like to move away from it, but right now I am having more success setting
long distance PR’s intervaling then I am when I run flat out. It is hard to be
seen walking, but I do what I have to in order to get the best results. When I
started pulling away, the guy called after me “See you next mile”, but he never
caught up to me again!

A mile and a half from the finish, my boyfriend joined me. I
was excited to see a familiar face and he got to experience a different side of
me. I can sometimes get a little intense at the end of the race and I admit
that I got a little cranky with him when he asked innocent questions. My brain
function was pretty low at that point and my tank was almost on empty, but I
was on course for another decent sized PR. I think I mostly kept mumbling about
needing to keep the pace.

Aldous to the rescue!

Finish line smile or grimace...

The hardest thing about Santa to the Sea Half Marathon is
that you can hear the finish line from over a mile away. It makes you want to
push through, but it also seems like you will never get there! Eventually I did
get there, setting a new half marathon PR of 1:54:17! Daddio and Mom were at
the finish, ready to congratulate me and my boyfriend pulled out air freshener
bling for the three of us that had run. It was a really fun morning!

Two pieces of bling!

I always recommend this race and will continue to do so!
Santa to the Sea is a wonderful Christmas themed race and it is always a lot of
fun! I’m already signed up for 2014! Since this post is coming up late, I hope
everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year!